The cursed mansion - PERMA HIATUS
by Mateko
Summary: Halloween themed story. The five and the dragon warrior received a weird report from an unknown person about people disappearing every year in the same period. Will they save the ones who got caught this year or they'll die? Warning. This will be an heavy story. Blood, violence, characters death and more. Do not read it if you're easily scared ;)
1. A living trap

"And then...the masked rhino caught the first pig..." Monkey tried to simulate what happened moving his arms against the others. The shadows dancing alongside with him around that campfire they built in the middle of the forest.

"He raised his axe and...CHOMP." He closed his arms. "He cut off his left arm."

Po hugged Crane shaking. "Then what happened?!" Mantis asked excited.

"Blood poured everywhere...like a fountain...his screams, his tears...NOBODY COULD'VE SAVED HIM! The rhino did his terrible laughter...creepy and distorted. He lifted up his weapon dyed with the pig's blood and...HE CUT OFF HIS RIGHT LEG."

"Is he gonna cut them all?" Viper asked curiously. "Shouldn't he kill him off directly? I mean...he's wasting time! The other pigs are running away..."

"Viper! You're ruining the atmosphere!" Mantis muttered "There's no point on doing that! He must torture him until the end. That's how things works..."

"I'm sorry...go on."

"The pig screamed, his voice echoed throughout the entire forest. He begged for his life, but the rhino will never accept that request and he cut off his left leg too."

"I'll never understand why people are so dumb on these stories...couldn't he do something? He's just staying there getting mutilated..." Viper interrupted again.

"When an assassin is chasing you down with an axe and you lost already a limb...do you really think people can find a solution except for panicking?" Mantis grunted.

"Well...whatever is better than staying there..he didn't even try..."

"It doesn't matter Viper!" Monkey continued "look at Po's expression! This is what a good scary storyteller should achieve. Priceless."

"I'm not scared..." Po mumbled "I'm just really really interested in what you're telling that's all..." he quivered strangling Crane.

"Monkey please continue! I want to know what happened to the others!" Mantis requested

He coughed a couple of times to clear his throat. "As soon as the rhino cut off every limb from the pig...he left him there alone slowly dying. The second pig hid himself inside a little hut. He thought that the rhino didn't follow him fast enough to see where he was, but suddenly...the door shook violently and brutally. The pig...held his breath...but his heart couldn't stop pounding harder and harder. The door stopped. Was it over? A couple of seconds later the rhino started to break the door down with his axe. Blow after blow he made his way inside."

"Did he really hide in a place with only one way to leave? That's stupid..." Viper commented

"Viper listen if you don't like the story do the same thing that Tigress did ignore us, okay?" Mantis replied upset.

"He grabbed the second pig and slowly opened his chest with his axe. So slow and precise that there were no words to describe the immense pain the poor guy went through. He finished his work hanging him on the roof from his neck. He stood there observing his lungs and his heart moving, desperately trying to survive and save himself,until they stopped and never moved again."

"Wow...that's really sick! I love it!" Mantis gasped.

"How could you like these things..." Crane struggled free for a couple of seconds "A psycho is running after three innocent pigs killing them all in the worst possible ways..."

"It's just a story Crane! Just because I like it doesn't mean I'll go crazy and I'll start to kill people..." Monkey explained

Mantis started to laugh at what Crane said "Did you hear yourself? There's no way something like that is going to happen!"

"Still...I'm seriously concerned about what you guys like."

Tigress sighed annoyed "We should go back."

"No wait! I didn't finish my story!" Monkey opposed.

"Everyone's gonna die...we knew that from the start."

"If you say it like that it's boring..."

"Can we cook some dumplings on the fire first? These stories Monkey told us made me hungry!" Po said followed by a moaning stomach.

"Fine..." Tigress accepted lowering down a scroll on the ground.

"Can I have a look at that?" Po asked to her and grabbed it as soon as she nodded to him.

'Six teenagers have been found missing. The last time someone saw them was in the middle of the forest. We ask you to search the area, find them or some clues about them.' Po read the content "I remember this...isn't it..."

"Yes. Every year we receive a message about weird disappearances, but I never found a thing. I don't even know who sends them." She muttered

"It can be a lie..." Viper slithered to her "We know a couple of persons who love pranks."

"Hey! I would never go that far!" Monkey crossed his arms angry.

Po removed a cooked dumpling from the fire and ate it "It doesn't matter. It's always nice to have fun together eating dumplings...listening to scary stories and when we will be back the hungry ghost festival is waiting for us!" He hummed happily

"Just...this time don't set on fire the entire village." Monkey mocked him holding his laughter between his hands

"It was an accident!"

"There's still the cursed mansion..." Mantis picked up the discussion about the missing people again.

"Isn't it a legend who people tell to their children?" Crane asked

"Mantis. We already talked about it. Do you really believe there's a haunted mansion in the middle of the forest? Something so big and nobody ever found it?"

"It can turn invisible that's why!"

"Of course..."

"It's the truth! The house turns visible just for the ones he chose as his victims!" He explained.

"Then what? It eats people? Don't be ridiculous..."

"People found bones abandoned in the forest. Explain this."

"Too bad those people never brought them to us because they disappeared in front of them..."

"A bunch of people are saying the same thing...how could you not believe them..."

"I did! I explored this place back and forth. If I didn't believe them I wouldn't even try..."

Suddenly a thunder struck not so far from there and started to rain. "That's great...now that I wanted to leave." Tigress complained

Po winced back when the thunder crushed "Woah I swear I thought it wasn't going to rain tonight. Let's find a place to stay until the rainstorm goes out."

Walking deeper into the forest where the darkness was the only thing excepted to find Tigress widened her eyes surprised and shocked when something else appeared. "You're kidding me..."

"Invisibility!" Mantis moved his scythes along together with his voice to make a better effect.

They reached an old rusty gate. She wanted to knock, ask for the permission to enter, but they were soaking and it was half-open. She pushed it further and everyone walked deeper inside the mansion. In the courtyard empty trees filled the place. Everything's in ruin from the mansion itself to the single things around there...destroyed walls, broken windows filled with dust and webs. They stopped in front of that giant door who blocked them from entering inside. From there they were shielded enough to avoid the rain, but the weather suddenly turned colder and colder they needed a better place where heat themselves up. Tigress knocked at the door. Waiting for an answer, she tried a second and a third time. No answer.

"This is the abandon mansion...nobody's going to open us the door." Monkey said

"I don't believe that this place is abandoned." She stated.

The door was locked. A weird thing for an abandoned place. "Monkey do you think you can open the door from inside climbing there?" Tigress asked

"The door's locked...maybe I could use Mantis' help too." The simian added.

The bug climbed on his shoulder and Monkey disappeared inside from the window.

Minutes passed and nothing happened. "Should I go to check on them?" Crane questioned Tigress

She didn't reply and knocked the door again "Hey! Have you done? We're freezing here!"

Po approached the door, laid his face on the door and moved his ear closer to it trying to hear something. "I'm getting worried...I don't hear anything inside..."

"Let's just break down the door. There's no way someone's living in here..." Crane proposed

Tigress didn't really want to do it. Something is telling her that this place isn't abandoned as he looks like. "Okay...I'll do it."

As soon as she was going to land a kick on it Monkey unlocked the door and her foot stopped in front of his face. He noticed it first and moved his face away scared.

"Why did you take so long?" Viper asked concerned.

"Sorry...we had...a little inconvenient who slowed us." Monkey didn't explain himself clear enough and walked inside.

The place inside wasn't so different from what it looked like from outside. Everything's in shambles, ruined statues, ruined decorations and...Mantis not far from there analyzing something on a table. "What's that thing?" Tigress asked getting closer.

"Something you wouldn't like..." Mantis turned to her showing a corpse.

"Oh my god..." Viper gasped slithering on the table.

A skeleton was on that dusty table.

Po's face turned purple "Is that real?!"

"Calm down now..." Tigress' serious tone tried to ease that stressing moment. "What did you find?"

"I didn't explore the mansion yet..." Mantis said

"We found it on the door...our first thought was that he was trying to leave, but something happened." Monkey resumed the situation.

Mantis jumped on Tigress' shoulder, got closer to her ear "When can I tell you I told you?"

"This isn't the moment to play, Mantis. Your being right isn't going to bring us good news."

Tigress and Mantis talked about the condition of the body they found. They couldn't understand at what animal belongs that skeleton. Missing parts of it made it hard. In the meantime the others looked around the place not going to far from them to split up. Something from the ceiling dripped on Po's head. "Uh?" It fell again. The panda touched his head where it was wet and bringing his paw to his face a red liquid appeared. He screamed scared luring everyone's attention to him.

"PO! WHAT'S WRONG?!" Tigress shouted turning to him. He was shaking looking at his finger. She saw the blood and looked up. The sight was horrifying. A body hanging down the ceiling.

They stared at it shocked. "Crane...please..." She sighed trying to contain herself.

The bird nodded, flew a bit and cut the rope. The body fell onto Po.

Monkey putted his hands against his mouth "That's disgusting..."

A sheep...a dead sheep. That poor thing recently died there. Someone strangled her and then hung her up like a trophy. The panda couldn't handle it. First a skeleton...now a dead body recently killed. Being too close to that thing, the smell, the blood, the situation...he fell on the ground as well losing consciousness

When the dragon warrior opened his eyes again his friends were surrounding him completely worried about him. "Po!" their voices called his name countless times. He took some time to clearly focus and recognize their faces. He moaned a bit and raised half of his body "I'm sorry...I wasn't expecting that..."

"Just answer me. Do you think you can handle this?"

"Tigress. This is a serious thing. I must stay and help you!"

"That's what I needed to hear." She smiled helping him to get up. "From now on be aware that something similar or worse can happen..."

The mansion have multiple floors and countless rooms connected by long, dark and scary hallways. "We shouldn't go alone in here. Let's make some groups..." Viper proposed.

Monkey quickly climbed the stairs for the second floor alone "Leave it to me! I know everything about these things!"

Crane flew to him concerned "You shouldn't go alone though. That's dangerous..."

"Oh...now you're worried. What happened to the killer hidden inside of me?" He mocked him.

"Ha, ha. You're so funny..." Crane did a fake laugh "You're not the only one who knows how to make a joke."

Monkey stepped on something weird, his foot went deeper into the floor. A pressure plate. What happened next...completely unexpected. The first room. The one where everyone was still standing except for them opened completely like a trapdoor. Everyone fell into the darkness. Someone tried to save himself and the closest person to him by gripping on something, but the wooden planks were rotten and they slipped inside.

"Oh dear..." Crane looked at it shocked "This isn't a good start..."


	2. Your last feather

Mantis is the first one to wake up after the weird incident, but he couldn't expect how and with who he'll eventually wake up.

* * *

Everything around me was moving on his own. I couldn't focus. My vision was blurry and the only thing I could sense was someone panting.

"What's going on?" I mumbled trying to understand in which situation I was in.

I didn't get a reply and I was too dizzy to move or react on my own.

"Don't move an inch..." a voice whispered and suddenly things stopped.

I realized that a person was carrying me. Not that it was too hard to do. I'm a bug. I sensed her fear. She was shaking so hard and trying so badly to contain herself.

My vision finally came back and I looked around. I saw faces I never seen before. I wasn't expecting to be with strangers all of a sudden.

"Is it gone now?" Another voice whispered to the one who's holding me.

She didn't reply. She peeked out of the table they used as hiding spot. "Seems like he's gone for now..."

Exiting from there I finally had the chance to see them clearly in the face. I saw two girls. A swan and a fox. They were really young. The message we received was telling the truth.

"Are you okay now?" The fox questioned me putting me on the ground. She was the one holding me the entire time.

"I feel confused..." I tried to remember the last thing happened. "We came here, the floor opened, darkness...and nothing. I can't recall..."

"I told you it wasn't a coincidence..." she replied turning to her friend.

"Then what should we do?" She held her left wing tight with her right one.

I noticed some blood and quickly jumped on her "Let me see that."

She hesitated a bit, but she moved away her wing. "I'll be fine...as soon as we'll get out of here I'll treat it..."

It was a deep cut. "This isn't good..." I saw that they used their own cloths to make some bandages, but it's not enough. "Can you explain what happened? And from what were you running away?"

The fox cleared her troath "It wasn't so different from what happened to you. We woke up into what could've resembled a bedroom. Completely destroyed...nothing left. We walked outside that room. We wanted to find our friends and leave..." tears appeared in her eyes "then...that thing, out of nowhere, attacked us. We ran away, but we didn't know where we were going. We ended up into the garden. We thought we were safe now...she grabbed me and started to fly. I turned around and I saw that him. It didn't even try to catch us. He stopped at the edge of the door, watched us for a bit and then leave. I thought he gave up...no...he knew that something else was coming for us." she sobbed "We didn't do anything wrong. We just wanted to leave, but they didn't..."

"Then who wounded her like that?"

"We don't know..." She looked down. "When we were flying outside someone started to throw knives at us."

They were clearly shocked, scared and tired, I felt really bad for them.

"We ran back inside. I tried to fix her up a bit, but I'm not a doctor. When we found you we were running to find a place to hide from him again..."

"Do you see him?" I asked trying to create an image of him in my mind.

"It isn't that clear...there is a weird dark aura surrounding him..." she replied "It's really tall and...with an axe..."

"We're trapped..." the swan said shivering "Our friends are gone, nobody's going to save us, I don't want to die..."

"Stay calm...I said that everything's gonna be fine. We will escape from here safe and sound with our friends and his friends too, I'll protect you...okay?"

"You...promise?"

"Yes...of course"

We began our exploration in that creepy place. I felt like this wasn't the same it was before, but it wanted to appear like it.

The atmosphere suddenly changed. I saw phrases written on the walls with blood, curses, cries, prayers filled with anger, hate and despair. Every door I tried to open didn't work at all...like someone painted them so perfectly nice that they felt we thought things couldn't get worse, I smelled death.

"Oh my god..." I saw another body. A poor goat on the floor. Her neck sliced open and dry blood around her. Her body was decomposing already...

The fox gasped and held her scream. The swan, instead, threw up on the floor.

"Please be strong..." she helped her getting up.

"Who is capable of doing this!?" The swan coughed

"You need to sit down a bit" I said concerned. She was in no condition to keep up with this.

"Don't leave me alone...I'd rather stay with you..." She panted and coughed until she fainted on the floor.

"Hey, HEY! Wake up!" I yelled at her worried.

The fox picked her up "Don't worry I'll carry her...she must've been so tired after all that..."

I heard a weird sound. A mechanism activated and I heard a metallic sound. "I think something happened..."

"Do you think...it's related?" She thought the same thing I thought too.

Was it waiting for us? I checked the doors again. One of them opened.

I peeked inside without walking in. I felt like it was a trap.

"Is this an infirmary?" She asked looking inside.

I tried to confirm it, but it was really dark in there. I saw a candle and lighted it up.

Yes, no doubt about it. It was an infirmary. Really suspicious.

"I'll go inside alone. Must be sure it's not a trap."

I stepped in holding the candle right above me with both my scythes. I climbed the table and laid it down. I had a perfect view of the place. Like every room I saw so far everything covered in dust, ruined with holes and with time. There was a bed. No medicines, but I found some bandages. I guess it was just a coincidence...

"Put her on the bed...I'll fix her wound."

I removed the old, bloody filled cloth around her wing and changed it with a better one. "With this she will stop bleeding."

"I'm relieved...thank you."

"I'm going to look around again...wait here with her if something happens, scream. The strongest and louder you can do."

"Wait...I'd like to take turns."

"What?" I widened my eyes "I'm sorry, but I'll never allow it."

"You need to rest too...I'll be careful...I promise."

I sighed "man, you're stubborn...fine."

She sat on the bed with her and I walked outside, but I couldn't hide that I was worried. A dangerous person was still wandering into these hallways and we don't know where he is and when he'll come back. I shouldn't be worried. I'm a warrior. I know how to fight and what to do. I shouldn't be scared.

But...somehow...I was.

I guess it's the place itself who gives me a terrible feeling. The more we stay here the more bad things will happen.

I explored what I could. There was a deep hole in the middle of one hallway that I couldn't cross. I mean...I could cross it, but I shouldn't go that far and I must go back and check on them. I headed back and I saw them sleeping together. They really deserved some rest after what happened tonight. An important question came across my mind. Where were the others?

This mansion...It is big, but not enough big to...for example don't hear them at all. I felt like we three are the only ones here and it's clearly impossible. We're a total of 12 people. None of them showed up or yelled telling us their position.

I couldn't find an answer.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep..." the fox said scratching her eyes. "Now it's my time to search for some clues." She stood up completely recharged.

"Don't do anything stupid..." I recommended her again.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry now. I won't end like that goat. Trust me." And with those words she walked outside.

I laid on the bed with the swan. I couldn't believe how nice that sensation was. I must've been really stressed up for being so relieved when I sat on it. I didn't even enjoy how good it was that I fell asleep too.

I heard someone screaming. I opened my eyes instantly when I connected to who belonged that voice.

I followed the scream to the source and I was panicking. Praying that I was going to make it in time.

I did, luckily, but she was cornered. She ran towards the destroyed hallway. That thing was coming closer and closer to her and she couldn't move. She could try to jump into the darkness, but...was it really a better choice?

I needed to do something otherwise she will die.

I picked up stones, logs, planks everything I could've found and threw them at him. In that moment he tried to hit her with his axe, but he missed because of it. She slightly wounded her left leg instead.

He turned to me. I heard some sort of moaning, it wasn't clear...it was creepy. His aura completely drained my warrior spirit. I was more like a chicken than a bug in that situation. It never happened before...

It was...humiliating.

Was I afraid to die?

Everyday I could die with what I do. Another question without an answer.

The fox sneaked past him thanks to my distraction grabbed me and ran away. "I could've fought! It was time to teach him a lesson." I muttered angry, but we all know how I really felt.

"Don't be stupid...you risked enough for me..." she whispered checking if we lost him "and...thanks for that. You saved me..."

"Oh...it's nothing, but we should head back to the infirmary. That place isn't safe anymore."

She rushed back with me holding on her shoulder. Everything seemed alright, but when she tried to open the door...

"It's locked..." she mumbled scared.

"What?! We didn't even have the key for this room...how could it be..." I jumped off her and tried it myself. "Oh god...it's locked..."

We were really confused on what to do. We wanted to scream her name over and over...maybe she was still inside, but there was another problem...

"Alright..." she took a deep breath. "HEY! HEY! ARE YOU IN THERE?! WAKE UP! THE DOOR IS LOCKED!" She screamed.

It didn't take long enough that we heard someone else approaching from the hallway and it wasn't the swan.

"Now please save her like you did before with me..." and she ran away towards the guy coming for us.

"WHAT?! NO! YOU'RE CRAZY!" I hoped that would've changed her mind, but she left anyway.

I couldn't stay there staring at the door. I climbed it and reached the doorknob. "IF YOU'RE IN HERE GIVE ME A SIGN! PLEASE! YOUR FRIEND IS RISKING HER LIFE FOR YOU!" I repeatedly shook the knob .

"Uh? What's going on?" A voice mumbled from the inside followed by a yawn.

A glimpse of hope came back. She was still alive, but trapped.

"HURRY UP! FIND A WAY OUT TO THAT ROOM!" I screamed trying to give her a faster realisation of her situation.

I can't really explain what happened next. I heard her trying to open it without success. I suggested her to look around and then...I don't know. She screamed, panted and cried. I heard footsteps all over the room. I wish I could've done something.

After a couple of minutes I heard a metallic sound again. She opened the door and literally jumped out of it. I looked behind her and I saw another black figure who was trying to pull her inside again. I quickly grabbed her wings, but It wasn't working. How strong that thing was?!

Until some help came just in time and won over that unnatural strength. The fox hurried back and did what I was supposed to do...

The swan coughed some blood on the floor trying to breathe regularly. I, instead, watched that shadow glancing over us from the corner of the room. It clearly couldn't leave it and go into the hallway. Some seconds later disappeared.

I looked at the swan. Her eyes empty, her body shaking, blood still dripping from her beak...I can only imagine what happened inside that room.

"Thank god you're okay..." the fox hugged her trying to comfort her.

"Where were you..." she shivered crying "Why was I alone..."

"I'm sorry...we had a problem..."

"I asked you to bring me with you no matter what." She cried

"You were in a really bad shape I couldn't..."

Those words triggered something into her. She struggled free. "So that's how it is...I'm just a burden for you? You left me there alone to die because you were thinking I had no chance to survive, AM I RIGHT?!"

"What are you saying...don't be ridiculous..."

"You preferred that bug over me because he can save you...because he can protect you...YOU PROMISED TO HELP ME..."

"I understand your pain...but don't act so selfish I'M SCARED TOO YOU KNOW..."

"Go away..." she whispered "STAY AWAY FROM ME." the swan ran into the hallway with no destination.

"YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED! COME BACK HERE!" the fox tried to reason with her until she still could, but she disappeared.

"We must get her back!" I said pushing her to run after her, but an unexpected thing happened. An earthquake.

"Don't move and put your head down!" I suggested "We'll chase her after it."

I couldn't stay calm. It was painful to wait like that.

It stopped. It felt like an eternity. The fox stood up again, walked where the swan went and cried out her name. "PLEASE CAME BACK! I'M SORRY!"

She was so focused that she didn't see an important thing. "WATCH OUT!" I pulled her dress luring her attention.

There was now another hole into the ground. She was going to fall, but luckily I noticed it for her. "But...there isn't this before..." she complained shaking.

"Let's find another way..." I proposed.

"Are you able to walk over it?" She asked me

"I could, but I can't leave you alone..."

"Forget about me...save her..." I heard again that horrible voice moaning. It was heading right towards us.

"He's coming here, I can't abandon you..."

"But..." I didn't listen to her decision this time. I pushed her and she started to follow me. We will find her together.

This place will never stop to surprise me.

During our research we started to hear a carillon. One of those really sweet and kind musics...in a place like this makes it really disturbing. "Should we follow the music?" She asked me...

I really didn't know...

It could've been another trap masked as something good. Until now we avoided to go too close to that, but we didn't find anything really useful for us.

"Let's give it a look and leave..." I replied

We walked through the hallway, turned around a corner and arrived into our worst nightmare.

"No..." My voice disappeared when the fox cried out the most painful scream I've ever heard.

We found the swan. How we found her was the problem.

Someone crucified her in a really disturbing way.

Countless knives pierced her body. All together they formed a cross. From the top of her head to the bottom of her body. From her left wing to her right wing.

"...why you left like that...I TOLD YOU...I TOLD YOU..." She repeatedly cried out punching the wall next to her.

What completed that scene was the music. That carillon still playing somewhere with this horrible background.

Until I realized...the carillon was inside her stomach.

Now I knew how being in hell felt like.


	3. Saint sinner

Po woke up all alone in that creepy mansion. What is going to happen? Will he find his friends?

* * *

I felt wet...The rain woke me up poking me continuously on my body.

I felt really cold. I shook my body trying to get rid of the water and then I sneezed.

"Damn...who left that window open..." I muttered getting up from the ground.

I needed a couple of seconds to remember. "Where am I?" I whispered.

I saw old, ruined toys all over the room. White dusty sheets covered most of the things here. I walked towards the window, gave it a fast glance and noticed something weird.

"This is the second floor." I closed the window and stared at the glass. "How is this possible?"

I remembered what happened before and...we fell down in the entrance hall. I should've woke up maybe in some sort of basement...not here. Well...I'm not really good at solving mysteries and this sounded like one. I scratched my head followed by a smirk. I should ask Tigress instead...or Mantis.

Then another thing came into my head like a flash. "Where are the others?! Why am I alone?!" I shivered.

A thunder struck outside, close enough to scare me. I walked backwards and fell on the floor. I saw on what I bumped and it was Viper's green tail. It was just the end of her long thin body. The rest of it hid underneath a white sheet. I moved it away and I saw her on top of a ruined shelf unconscious.

"Viper! Wake up!" I called her a couple of times until she slightly reacted to it.

Funny...usually the others woke me up. This time I was the one who did it.

"Po?" She said disoriented "What's going on?"

I couldn't tell her much. I explained what I saw so far, almost nothing, and the weird place we woke up.

"It is unusual, but probably Tigress, Monkey or the others carried us in here and left."

It could've been possible, but why bothering themselves so much to carry us in this particular room? Something wasn't right. "Let's just search for them and we'll find out." I spoke walking outside the room.

"Tigress!" I said as soon as I stepped into the hallway. "Where are you guys?" I yelled their names one by one, but nobody replied back.

"Ahh don't worry Po...I'm sure everyone's fine." She cheered me up noticing that I was worried.

"Yeah...you're right. They are strong, mighty and awesome warriors! Nobody could ever stand a chance against them!" At first I wasn't really convinced by her words, but mine carried me away and I changed my mind.

During our research we stopped at every door we could've found on our way. The first one locked, the second one too and the third one as well. "Isn't it a little bit strange for an abandoned mansion to have locked doors?" I asked to Viper.

She tried to break down one of them. "Are you okay?" I questioned her since she didn't move after the first try.

Viper turned to me with her eyes still widened. "I felt something really disturbing when I whipped the door..."

"Like what?"

"I-I think you should try by yourself." She mumbled.

I...really didn't know what she meant. I punched it, but nothing happened. "You have to put more strength in it..." she exhorted.

I did it again following her advice. I sensed something from the door itself. It absorbed my punch and became sturdier. Is that thing alive? "Wow..."

Viper slithered past me and did it again with every door. Same result. "I don't know what to think..." she admitted stopping at the last door.

I saw downstairs. Not so far from there "We can still check the first floor..."

On the entrance, a scroll hanging on a closer wall catched my eyes. I read it out of curiosity. 'Stolen necklace. Whoever will find it and bring the culprit to us will receive a huge reward in...' I tried to read some more, but it was so old that the rest of it simply disappeared. "Viper do you know more about the legend of this mansion?" I asked.

She read the scroll too and shook her head "I'm sorry. Mantis maybe knows, but I don't..."

I wanted to cheer her up. I noticed that she wanted to help me out, but, like me, she has no idea. "It's okay Viper. Let's focus on finding our friends."

We walked down to the first floor and nothing unusual at first sight.

"Po!" A voice called me deep in the hallway. "Tigress?!" I shouted back happy to hear finally her voice again.

I ran towards the source with Viper following right next to me.

"Po!" She repeated my name regularly every 3 seconds.

I was so excited to see her again.

Finally I did.

Well...I saw her back.

"Tigress!" I called again approaching closer, I wanted to see her so badly.

"Po!" This time Viper called me.

I turned around, she was standing really far away from us and I twitched my head confused "Is something wrong?"

Viper was in her combat stance, ready to fight someone...I didn't get it.

"Po..." Tigress called me again, but this time her voice was deeper and distorted. It scared me so much that I couldn't turn around instantly to see what's going on.

"A GHOST?!" I screamed as soon as I turned around. What else could've been? That thing was glowing with a red light, floating in her awful aura. Her face...she hasn't it! White eyes surrounded by a creepy smile.

"Get ready to..." Viper wanted to fight, but I grabbed her from the tail and ran away as far as I could.

"What are doing?! Put me down!" She opposed.

"NEVER AND I SAID NEVER FIGHT AGAINST A GHOST." I yelled panting.

"What about that thing did something to her instead?!"

"Trust me on this one! She's okay somewhere! I have a feeling!" I slightly turned back and I panicked seeing that ghost chasing us. Damn it I must go faster, but I'm not a good runner! "You can't escape forever!" Viper hissed

We reached the entrance hall, we can leave! I pressed my paw onto the doorknob, it opened and I ran outside under the rain.

I thought it was the best option. Not so far from there the forest where we came and what better place to hide? "Po stop!" Viper continued.

"I said we won't..."

"She isn't chasing us!"

"Uh?" I processed that phrase, stopped and turned around. She was right. The ghost stood right on the edge watching us from there. That's weird.

I dropped Viper and stared at him. "Even if you don't want to fight, we must go back inside! Our friends are still there." She said worried. I sighed and covered her with my body from the rain. "I know, we have to find another way in."

I suggested to look into the courtyard. Big places like this one have always another entrance and I was right. "See? Everything's fine!" But this door was locked too. "Aww c'mon!" I tried again and again hoping to force it open.

"Look on the door, what's that weird drawing on it?" Viper called my attention on what I completely overlooked.

There was a...drawing? I don't know. There were 6 six holes on it, with some lines around them in different spots. "Are you sure this has a meaning? Maybe it's just the door."

"They have been perfectly placed between each other. It can't be something randomly created by the time."

I remembered Monkey telling me some stories about puzzles that unlock doors and secrets, maybe she's right after all. "But...I have no idea what this means Viper..."

She slithered away from the door, gave a look around and shouted "The trees, Po! The trees!"

"Uhm..." I mumbled switching sight between the door and the trees right behind us. "I saw...6 six holes and we have 12 trees. Are you sure?"

"Well...it's not gonna be so easy." She smiled "But I think they are related someway."

I checked them. I followed Viper's advice and looked inside, around them and between their branches, but they were dead. No leafs, no flowers, no life at all. Nothing can be hidden within them...

"I'm going to freeze to death..." I muttered feeling the cold penetrating into my bones.

I waited for some more instructions from my friend and waited. My own breath formed little clouds every time I breathed out, I tried to wrap myself into my own arms trying to warm up a bit, but the rain denied it.

"Po! Try to look underneath!" She shouted.

"U-underneath?" I mumbled due to the cold.

"On the closest tree you are. Dig down on the bottom left." She explained.

I ducked and started to move away the dirt with my paws. It turned into mud because of the rain. "I found a button. Should I press it?" I wasn't able to think. I waited for her answer and clicked it.

"Now the second tree from your left. Top right still underneath."

One after another I dug under every tree, collected and pressed lots of buttons, but every time I raised my head from the ground and glanced to the door nothing changed. "Is this gonna work or..."

I sneezed and I heard my organs clashing against my bones. It brought a terrible feeling and an excruciating pain. I fell on the ground moaning.

"Po!" She slithered to me and grabbed me away from the rain, under that door. "You should've told me that you needed a break..."

"I'm sorry..." I coughed. "I wanted to be helpful somehow."

"Just stay here, I'll finish it..." she went in the garden again, but not towards the trees. She stopped in the very center of it and putted her tail on the ground. Is something there? I looked over the door again and I widened my eyes when I saw that a seventh hole appeared in the very center, between the trees. I heard a mechanical sound, forcing myself to get up I twisted the doorknob and it finally opened. Viper reached me and helped me to get inside.

I couldn't feel my body. That weird weather completely ignored my fur. I was, like, completely naked in front of a storm. My body paralysed. "Po! I found..." she was talking to me, but I couldn't hear it clearly. I was slowly losing consciousness.

... ... ...

I opened my eyes, scratched them and yawned. How much did I sleep? "Viper?" I called for her, but no answer.

I was on the floor wrapped around one of those sheets we found when we woke up the first time. I felt better. Not perfectly fine...but, at least, I can walk now.

I wanted to call her, but I was worried to lure that ghost again. In the end I whispered her name in the hallway. It was completely useless. "Viper! Where are you?"

I tried every door, but they were locked just like the second floor.

Until...

"TAKE THIS! NO, STOP! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" she screamed.

As soon as I heard her voice a terrible feeling overwhelmed me. "Please be okay, please be okay..." I chanted running towards the source.

I couldn't hear her voice anymore, I followed what I heard hoping I wasn't too late.

"I'M HERE! DON'T WORRY!" I screamed where I thought she yelled before. "DON'T ENTER PO!" she weirdly warned me. It gave me hope. She was alright and I can't ignore you like that. "I'm sorry Viper" I said stepping inside the room she was.

"I TOLD YOU TO NOT COME!" She scolded me.

"I COULDN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE..." I screamed inside that dark room.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'VE DONE..."

The first time she spoke I clearly heard her voice coming from the left, but the second time her voice came from the opposite direction. "What's going on here?! Viper!?"

Finally the lights revealed the truth. A truth I would've certainly avoided.

Two Vipers standing in front of me in chains. One on the left and another one on the right. In between a table. There was knife upon it.

"You should've left me here to die..." she muttered "Now you're going to kill me instead..." the Vipers repeated the same phrases perfectly synchronised, both in tears, both scared, both hopeless.

"What are you saying..." I winced back surprised by her explanation. "I'll just free both of you and leave...maybe later we will..."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT" they shouted "Otherwise...you'll die too, not just me..."

"You...you can't be serious...then what should we..."

They pointed their heads towards the table and when I connected what I should've done with it my entire body shook panicking. "NO. YOU CAN'T...I CAN'T DO THIS."

She cried. She doesn't want either, but part of her already accepted the worst possible outcome. "I know, Po. I know..." she sobbed.

I continued walking back until my body met the wall. "THIS ISN'T RIGHT...I CAN'T VIPER. I CAN'T EVEN TRY. I DON'T WANT TO KILL ANYONE..."

Fear, anxiety, tears, anger, sadness, sorrow...countless feelings filled that little room.

I fell on the floor. My mind couldn't process that situation so surreal.

One hour, two hours, three hours...time flew so fast. I was still there, sitting on that cold ground staring into the nothingness surrounded by their voices trying to encourage me to take a choice, to do something, to not give up, but in their words I heard desire to survive, to not die, to live. Who am I to decide for her life? Why did we end up like this? Tigress...where are you? What would you do in my place? I'm scared. I'm confused. It must be another way...

I tried to run away. I'd rather find the others first and then decide together, but the door was now locked. "HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE..."

"Po...you know what you must do now..."

"I'D RATHER DIE WITH YOU HERE!"

"Tigress is waiting for you! You can't die here!" Those words shook me entirely.

"She would be happy to sacrifice for you! ALLOW ME TO DO THE SAME FOR YOU!" I knew she forced these words out of her mouth.

She's fighting against herself. She's doing everything she can, what about me? I'm a coward, running away from the problem itself. I'm not even the one who's risking to die here...

I didn't even notice I was crying until I wiped my tears away.

I stood up, walked towards the table and stared at the knife. "A-are you sure?" My whole body was shaking as soon as I held the knife in my paw.

Total silence. Viper stopped speaking. She stared at me waiting for my decision.

She probably gave up the idea of leading me towards the fake one since they repeated every phrase.

I repeatedly glanced over both of them. Nothing. They were unidentifiable. I approached to the one on the right side. I saw her shivering and probably her own instinct kicked in like every common person trying to protect her life.

"No! I'm the real one! Put that thing away from me! She is the fake, not me!" She cried and begged for her life.

In the opposite direction, instead, the other Viper finally said something different "It's a trap! Don't fall for it! I am the real one! Don't stop, Po!"

I was losing my mind. Too many emotions, too many thoughts.

When I realized where I was and what was I doing I saw myself pointing the knife right in front of that Viper. "I'll...I'll give you a painless death..." I couldn't believe I said that "That's...the least I can do..."

The Viper on the left spoke again and what she said made a nightmare came true. "Even if you do that...inside the fake, somewhere, there's the key to get out of this room. That's why I told you to not come in here. I'm sorry, Po..."

Even in this situation she was worried for me, she could've been the real Viper, but...it could've been a trap too. My head is going to explode. Their voices ringing in my head saying the same things over and over and over. "Viper...I'll do my best to save you..."

And with those words I cut off the head from the Viper on the right side. Fake or not blood poured out dyeing my fur with that red liquid. I frowned terrorized, was it normal? Probably this is a way to make me believe I killed the real one. The only hope I had to grip on, the only thing who kept my mental sanity still intact.

I turned to the Viper I decided to spare and set her free.

"Po, allow me to complete it for you, hand me over the knife." She said kindly.

I was happy that she said it. "Viper...you did enough. Let me finish it..."

I was still shaking. I needed to cut her open and find this key she talked about, but hey, that one's a fake, nothing to worry about.

I can't say I liked it. I felt horrible. I pierced her body with the knife and I slowly divided her in two pieces.

The smell, the blood, the organs. It was absolutely unimaginable. I wanted to throw up, I wanted to forget what happened and what I did.

I didn't see the key and I wasn't ready to put my paws inside and search for it "Viper are you sure there's..." I stopped when I turned around and she wasn't there at all.

"Viper?" I mumbled "Don't scare me like that...show yourself. Please..."

"Viper? You mean that poor thing you killed?" A distorted voice echoed through the room.

I can't describe my face when I faced the reality. Every single organ inside my body twisted with disgust. I screamed, cried and, carried away by my own craziness, dragged every piece of Viper's body and hugged it into the worst cry I've ever did with a creepy laughter filling the background.


	4. Meeting

Monkey and Crane watched their friends falling into the darkness. We will see what will happen to Monkey in particular and his discoveries.

* * *

When my friends fell into the darkness we weren't close enough and fast enough to help them out. I didn't expect something like that happening, it caught me off guard and I stood there, doing nothing. Crane, instead, reacted faster.

"Monkey, I'll go to check on them, wait here." He said and flew down in that hole searching for our friends.

I sat on the stairs waiting for him to come back.

5 minutes and nothing happened.

10 minutes. I began to be worried.

15 minutes. There's no way Crane didn't come back, at least once, for telling me I found them or not.

20 minutes. How is this possible? They fell underneath the floor. I peeked into the hole "Hello? Crane? Tigress? ... Po?" I called for them, but nobody replied.

'Should I go jump down there too?' I thought 'Nobody came back. Something happened and I'm here doing nothing.'

I backed away and went towards our bag. It didn't fall with them luck for me. There was a brand new rope bought recently for the camping we did before. 'This is perfect to climb down safely' I added wrapping it around the closest column.

I threw the rest of it inside the hole. I hesitated a bit when I grabbed the rope in the moment to jump inside, but I did it though. It wasn't long enough. I didn't hear the rope meet some kind of ground. I couldn't be sure, too much darkness. I tried again to call them, I was deeper than before, maybe they could've heard me this time, still no response.

Then something unpredictable.

The rope broke and I fell down.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

I heard my stomach rumbling and that sound woke me up.

"Who am I? Po?" I smiled at my own joke.

I stood up, gave a look around and I immediately noticed something...off. I picked up the rope. I checked it to see what happened and surprisingly someone cut it on purpose. There's a big difference when the rope broke itself and when someone cut it off, but when happened? I didn't hear someone coming...

There's more...

I woke up inside a hallway. When I fell underneath the first floor and, if I remember correctly, this hallway will bring me towards the entrance where the hole was. I scratched my head confused. Did someone bring me here? Why? This doesn't make any sense.

"Guys?" I called their names one by one, but no one replied.

My voice echoed through the entire mansion. I'm alone, nobody's here.

My stomach poked me again. 'We get it, I'm hungry. Stop it.'

I went back to the entrance and as I expected the bag disappeared. Did that person who cut the rope wanted the bag? And for what? Another interesting detail was the upper half side of the rope missing from the column. What's the point of removing it?

So many questions and my thinking made worse my hunger now I'm starting to feel some pain.

'I should go outside, look for some food and come back here for my friends.' I thought stretching my paw over the doorknob, but the door's locked. 'Fine, I'll break it down.' I putted my hands on the floor and I kicked it with my feet.

The door absorbed the kick and sent it back to me. I rolled away. 'What?' I glanced over it disoriented. My stomach complained again due to this waste of energies. 'Maybe...there's something I can eat here, maybe my friends left something behind...' I decided to give me hope. Trick your mind, trick your own needs.

I walked back where I was before. I didn't see nothing special. I went deeper, I couldn't just sit there and let my hunger torture me so freely. I stumbled into something and I bumped my face into the ground. I couldn't see clearly. It was dark and my vision a bit blurry, but when I focused on what made me fall I regained most of my energies and consciousness.

There was this dead pig on the floor and...and...someone cut off his limbs. I yelled and panicked. "You're kidding me..."

First thing I did was to crumble away as fast as I could and I tried to find an explanation only when I was far enough from it. I laughed hysterically "This is a joke...IT MUST BE A JOKE. Is that you Viper?! JUST SHOW YOURSELF ALREADY! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LAUGHED ABOUT MY STORY." I shouted.

More I talk, move and think more my pain increases.

But...what should I do?

I needed to eat. I felt my insides burning desperately begging for some food and there's nothing edible.

Except for that corpse.

I laughed awkwardly. I couldn't believe I had the thought of eating a person. Dead or alive it doesn't matter. I can't do that.

Trying to fight my own needs I dragged myself towards the closest door. Locked. Another one. Locked as well. 'I'm not going to give up so easily.'

I fell on the ground, started to moan, doing my best to handle the pain until it stopped. I breathed in and out. I felt a bit better, but I knew it was temporary. I gave myself some seconds to sit there, looking around, hoping to find a better solution.

I sensed something. No. I sensed someone. Without my pain I felt it clearly. Someone is watching over me. From one of the closed doors.

I approached it silently. As soon as I was close enough to it I putted my ear against the door and waited to hear a sound. I was right. I heard someone breathing. It wasn't regular. The one inside must be scared or hurt or something else.

"Is someone in there?" I asked.

I heard a little gasp. Whoever is inside freaked out and quickly putted his paw in front of his mouth to shut every possible sound.

"I'm not gonna hurt you..." I tried to persuade it "You can come out. "

No answer.

"I'm looking for my friends. Are you alone?"

Nothing.

I sighed. "Please...you have to believe me..."

My pain came back stronger and harder. I coughed and almost threw up. Blood all over the floor...I took a deep, painful breath. "That's it...I'm going to die..."

"Are you alright?" I heard a voice coming from the door. It hesitated a bit, but I noticed that a part of it being worried for my condition.

"I...I don't know." I panted. "It should be hunger, but...there's something more, something else I can't quite understand..."

"Did you...meet him?" The voice spoke louder. It's a guy.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There was a pig, he was holding a knife and..." he stopped. I heard him sobbing.

"I don't know what happened. He's dead."

"I'm sorry..." he cried out

"Did you kill him?"

"No..."

"Then why are you apologising?"

"Because...I failed. I wanted to help him, I tried to reason with him, but he acted like he lost his mind...I should've done something instead of hiding in fear..."

"It's not your fault..."

"I have a thing to help you out, but, please...leave me alone." he begged

I didn't even get the time to reply that he unlocked the door, putted something on the floor right outside and locked himself inside again.

"It's not much, but it's what he left me before he disappeared..."

I slowly crouched towards the thing he gave me and I saw an apple. I chewed it happily, enjoying the positive answer from my stomach as well. "Thank you..." I said right after finishing it.

"Now please leave..."

I felt like...it wasn't fair to leave him there, waiting to die. I needed to convince him to get out.

"What are you going do when I'll go away? Don't you want to find your friends?"

"They are dead. Like yours. I simply gave you some more time alive...enjoy it."

"You're gonna die too..."

"I know."

"Then why are you hiding?"

"..."

"Tell me what happened..."

"I was looking around the house with my friend when I heard the others screaming in the entrance hall. It freaked me out so much that I paralysed. He told me to wait here and to lock yourself if something happened. Just wait for me, that's what he said, but then he yelled too. That pig appeared. I couldn't even be able to see if he was the one who killed them..."

"The pig's the only corpse I saw until now..."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He sniffed "I knew that pig. He used to sell fruits in our village. I can't say I knew him, but I'm sure he wasn't a violent guy."

"Do you think the same's gonna happen to me too, right?"

"I don't know how much time it will take, but it will happen. That's why I'm not going to open this door, that's why I'm not going to leave this place."

"You can't give up like that! You must fight for your life..."

"Open your eyes. The truth is this place changes you. It depends on the person, but it changes you. You'll go crazy, I'll go crazy too. I...I don't want to be brutally murdered or to die in a cruel way. .I want to choose how, when and where myself..."

"I'm not going to give up." I repeated. "You said you were sorry, but hearing you now...it's confusing." I muttered.

"I am sorry..." he whined

"You're scared...I know that. I am too, but I can't leave you here. You can survive, you can be saved. Together we can do this and whatever happens to me, I'm sure you can talk to me. You can save me"

"It won't work. You didn't see the face that pig did to me, he was dead inside already..."

"Then I'll ask you...to kill me."

He didn't reply.

"It's hard to accept, but...I'd like to see you survive."

"How can you say that?"

I froze "What's wrong?"

"We barely know each other and you're literally offering your life to me. Why would you do that? In a situation like this a normal person would consider it like a trap. How can I be sure you won't attack me as soon as I open the door?"

"Easy there..." I grunted "First if I was going to do that I would've done it the first time you opened the door, but I didn't. Second that's my job. I fight to protect the others! That includes dying for someone else's sake."

I heard something bumping against the door. "I don't even know why I'm doing this..." he sighed.

The doorknob twisted and the door opened. "Your words didn't make me feel safe at all, but I can't deny the fact that you're right...partially."

I finally saw the mysterious guy hid inside that room. He walked to me, I was sitting on the ground, on the opposite wall he stretched his paw to me and helped me out to get up. A cheetah wearing a blue vest, but in some spots torn apart. Probably he fought back when the pig was still alive.

"Did you stay inside that room all the time?" I questioned.

"Yes, I didn't know a thing about this place. Another reason to not come out..." he said

He wanted to help me walk, but, for now, I was fine and I refused "There's no need for that, thank you."

"About the thing you said before..." I walked ahead, he didn't follow me, I turned around curious about what he was going to say "I have this..." he showed me a little hammer.

"Did you find that inside the room?"

He slowly nodded

"That's good. It will be useful when I'll be..."

"No, I won't do that. I'm sorry..." he dropped it on the floor.

"Why? I thought it was the best solution to make you come outside."

"That's right. It is. I'll make sure it won't be necessary..."

I smiled "Why would you do that?" I mocked him "A normal person would consider that as a trap."

"I opened the door and trusted a stranger with no proof whatsoever to confirm that he said the truth. I'm not a normal person..." He finally reached me. "Shall we go?"

At least, now, I'm not alone.


End file.
